Trash receptacle vacuum release vent

ABSTRACT

A composite vent has an elongated rectangular central panel with two narrower longitudinal rectangular side panels hingeably attached or detachably connected thereto, such that the side panels form a range of obtuse angles with the central panel. The reverse sides of the side panels contain one or more adhesive strips, such that the vent can be securely attached across the corner or side of a trash receptacle regardless of the size or shape of the receptacle or the angle at which the side walls of the receptacle meet to form a corner. The composite vent creates a vertical airway along the corner of side of the trash receptacle, such that air can enter at the top of the panel and flow down the sides of the receptacle and into the bottom below the liner bag. To prevent obstruction of the airway by the liner, the vent panel can be perforated at intervals along its length, and/or it contain a vent opening at its lower edge.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The current invention relates to the field of trash receptacles, and more particularly to trash receptacles that incorporate a means of releasing the vacuum typically created between the liner bag and the inner walls and bottom of the receptacle.

Trash receptacles come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are commonly used in domestic, commercial and industrial applications. In order to avoid contamination of the interior of such receptacles, a plastically deformable liner bag is usually inserted into the receptacle, such that the liner covers the side walls and bottom of the receptacle and extends around the perimeter of the receptacle opening. As the liner bag is filled with trash, it is compressed against the sides and bottom of the receptacle. This compression forces the air out of the spaces between the liner and the interior of the receptacle, thereby creating a partial vacuum, which offers strong resistance to removal of the liner when the receptacle is full. Such resistance often compels a person to hold down the receptacle with one hand while lifting the liner bag with the other hand. Consequently, the simple task of removing a trash bag from its receptacle is rendered difficult and awkward.

The prior art has addressed this problem in various ways.

In the patent applications of Herndon (US 2009/0255934) and Wentz et al. (US 2007/0210088) and the patent to Tidrick (U.S. Pat. No. 7,438,199), bag venting systems are integrally formed as part of the trash receptacle. In the patent to Joseph (U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,281), a series of integral pre-fabricated air baffles project orthogonally from the walls and bottom of the trash receptacle. These receptacles with built-iv venting have the disadvantages of not being adaptable to retrofitting an ordinary trash receptacle with a vacuum release mechanism. Moreover, integral vents and baffles inside a trash receptacle create spaces that are difficult to clean and afford potential paths by which vermin can gain access to the receptacle's interior. Specially fabricated trash receptacles are more expensive than ordinary receptacles to fabricate, and may not be available in the ranges of sizes and shapes to meet all needs.

The patents to Bard (U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,379) Jones (U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,518) and Kulasik (U.S. Pat. No. 7,578,409) teach the use of insertable hollow conduits which attach to the side of the receptacle. Each of these conduits has a self-enclosed, rigid cross-sectional configuration, which is triangular (Bard), tubular (Jones), or trapezoidal (Kulasik). These rigid conduit configurations are not adaptable to various sizes and shapes of trash receptacles. For example, the Bard conduit will fit only into a square or rectangular receptacle with right-angled corners. Moreover, since the self-enclosed conduits taught by Jones and Kulasik protrude from the side of the receptacle, they are apt to snag and rip the liner bag as it's being removed from the receptacle.

Another type of insertable vent panel is described in the patent to Poliquin (U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,063). But the Poliquin vent has a rigid shape which is adaptable only to square or rectangular receptacles.

The patent to Barnett et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,241) teaches a multi-panel vent with adhesive attachment means on the side panels. But the side panels extend at acute angles behind the central panel, and they are rigidly, not hingeably, attached to the central panel. This again limits the application of the vent to a square/rectangular shaped receptacle.

Therefore, there exists a need, as yet unfulfilled by the prior art, for a vacuum release vent that can be inserted into an ordinary trash receptacle of virtually any size and shape. The present invention meets this need by providing a composite multi-panel vent configuration. In one version of the multi-panel vent, two side panels are hingeably attached to a central panel and are adjustable through a range of oblique angles so as to conform to the interior shape of the receptacle. Alternately, the two side panels are detachably connected to the central panel and, after detachment from the central panel, serve as dual tracks by which the central panel can slide in and out of the trash receptacle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a composite vent having an elongated rectangular central panel with two narrower longitudinal rectangular side panels. The reverse sides of the side panels contain one or more adhesive strips, such that the vent can be securely attached across the corner or side of a trash receptacle regardless of the size or shape of the receptacle or the angle at which the side walls of the receptacle meet to form a corner.

The composite vent creates a vertical airway along the corner of side of the trash receptacle, such that air can enter at the top of the panel and flow down the sides of the receptacle and into the bottom below the liner bag. To prevent obstruction of the airway by the liner, the vent panel can be perforated at intervals along its length, and/or it contain one or more vent openings along its lower edge.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the side panels are hingeably attached to the side panels, such that the side panels form a range of obtuse angles with the central panel. In this version, the composite vent is inserted into the trash receptacle as an integral unit and, after being secured to the receptacle's interior walls by the adhesive strips on the back of the side panels, the vent functions as an integral unit thereafter. In the second embodiment, the side panels overlap the central panel, to which they are flexibly connected by one or more detachable connector means. In this version, after the composite vent has been inserted into the trash receptacle as a single unit and the side panels are secured to the interior walls, the detachable connector means are removed, and the central panel is free to slide up and down behind the dual tracks formed by the two side panels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a composite vent in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the composite vent of FIG. 1, shown inserted into the corner of a trash receptacle.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a trash receptacle with the composite vent of FIG. 1 inserted therein.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of a composite vent in accordance with the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the composite vent of FIG. 4, shown inserted into the corner of a trash receptacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a composite vent 10 having a central panel 11 to which are hingeably attached two side panels 12. The central panel 11 is rectangular in shape, with two elongated longitudinal sides 13 and two narrower lateral sides 14. Preferably, the length of the longitudinal sides 13 is in the range of 12 to 48 inches, corresponding to the height of the trash receptacle into which it will be inserted, while the width of the lateral sides 14 is in the range of 2 to 8 inches, depending on the size of the receptacle opening. The cross-section of the central panel 11 is preferably flat, but can be also be convex or concave, so as to better conform to the shape of the receptacle.

The two side panels 12 are hingeably attached along the two longitudinal sides 13 of the central panel 11. The length of the side panels 12 is equal to the length of the longitudinal sides 13 of the central panel 11, while the width of each side panel 12 is preferably in the range of one-quarter to one-half of the width of the lateral sides 14 of the central panel 11. In the junctures between the side panels 12 and the longitudinal sides 13 of the central panel 11, there are one or more hinge means 15. Preferably, the hinge means 15 comprises one continuous strip of plastically deformable material that is formed by scoring the back of a single plastic panel or impressing a series of molded relief points on the back of a single plastic panel to hingeably divide the side panels 12 from the central panel 11, so as to form the composite vent 10 of the present invention. Alternately, the hinge means 15 can comprise one or more of the type of hinge mechanisms that are known in the art, such as continuous plastic hinges, barrel hinges, piano hinges, and strap hinges.

Preferably, the composite vent 10 is formed out of an integral panel of a rigid or semi-rigid plastic material by longitudinally scoring or molding the back of the panel so as to create the juncture between the side panels 12 and the longitudinal sides 13 of the central panel 11. Alternately, the composite vent 10 can be formed by attaching two separate side panels 12 to the longitudinal sides 13 of a separate central panel 11 by one or more separate hinge means 15. In the latter case, the separate panels 11/12 can consist of any rigid or semi-rigid material, such as plastic, metal, cardboard, or wood. The hinge means 15 allow each of the side panels 12 to swivel outward so as to form an oblique angle with the central panel 11.

Referring again to FIG. 1, on the reverse side of each side panel 12, there are one or more attachment means 16 by which the side panels 12 are secured to the interior wall of the trash receptacle. Preferably, the attachment means 16 comprises one or more adhesive mounting strips with removable protective backings. In order to prevent blockage of the airway formed by the composite vent 10, the central panel 11 has one or more air openings 17 and a bottom contour 18, which enable air flow from behind the vent 10 into the interior of the trash receptacle.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the composite vent 10 is shown inserted into the corner of a trash receptacle 19, thereby forming a longitudinal airway 20 that extends from the receptacle top 21 to the receptacle bottom 22. The side panels 12 are extended outward at an oblique angle α with respect to the central panel 11, such that the attachment means 16 engage the interior walls 23 of the trash receptacle 19. In this manner, the composite vent 10 is securely attached to the trash receptacle 19, and a liner bag (not shown) can be inserted without creating a vacuum between the receptacle 19 and the liner. A flow of air to the space between the liner and the receptacle's interior walls 23 is maintained by the airway 20, as augmented by the air openings 17 and the bottom contour 18 of the central panel 11.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the second preferred embodiment of the composite vent 10. The elements of this version of the composite vent 10 generally correspond to those described above for the first embodiment, as indicated by the corresponding reference numbers in FIGS. 4 and 5. In this version, however, two side panels 12 are not hingeably attached along the two longitudinal sides 13 of the central panel 11, as they are in FIG. 1, but instead the two side panels 12 frontally overlap the two longitudinal sides 13 of the central panel 11, so as to create two panel overlaps 25, as depicted in FIG. 4. Each of the side panels 12 is flexibly attached to the central panel 11 by one or more detachable connector means 26. The detachable connector means 26 can comprise strips of removable tape, temporary adhesive strips, velcro strips, magnetic strips, releasable clasps or hooks, or other equivalent detachable connectors.

FIG. 5 illustrates the ultimate configuration of the second embodiment of the composite vent 10, after it has been inserted into the corner of the trash receptacle 19 and the detachable connector means 26 have been removed. As with the first embodiment, the side panels 12 are secured to the interior walls 23 by the attachment means 16 on the back of the side panels 12. But now, instead of rotating hingeably about the central panel 11, the side panels 12 maintain a rigid position and serve as dual tracks behind which the detached central panel 11 can slide up and down.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many additions, modifications and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the accompanying claims. 

1. A composite vacuum release vent, attachable to an interior of a trash receptacle, comprising: (a) an elongated rectangular central panel having two longitudinal sides and two lateral sides; (b) two elongated rectangular side panels, which are hingeably attached to the central panel along the longitudinal sides and are aligned with the lateral sides; (c) one or more hinge means, by means of which the side panels are hingeably attached to the central panel; and (d) one or more attachment means, by which the side panels are secured to the interior of the trash receptacle, such that, when a liner bag is inserted into the interior of the trash receptacle, the composite vacuum release vent maintains an open airway between the liner bag and the interior of the receptacle, so as to prevent the creation of a partial vacuum as the liner bag expands upon filling.
 2. The composite vacuum release vent according to claim 1, wherein the side panels have a reverse surface upon which the attachment means are located.
 3. The composite vacuum release vent according to claim 2, wherein the hinge means enables the side panels to pivot with respect to the central panel through a range of oblique angles so as to cause the attachment means to conformably engage the interior of the trash receptacle.
 4. The composite vacuum release vent according to claim 3, wherein the central panel has one or more apertures that enable air to flow through the central panel.
 5. The composite vacuum release vent according to claim 4, wherein the central panel has a bottom lateral side that is contoured or notched to provide an opening for air to flow beneath the liner bag.
 6. A composite vacuum release vent, attachable to an interior of a trash receptacle, comprising: (a) an elongated rectangular central panel having two longitudinal sides and two lateral sides, and having an obverse face and a reverse face; (b) two elongated rectangular side panels, each of which has an inner longitudinal edge an outer longitudinal edge, wherein the inner longitudinal edge of each side panel overlaps one of the longitudinal sides of the central panel and extends over a portion of the obverse face of the central panel so as to form a panel overlap along each of the longitudinal sides of the central panel, and wherein the side panels are detachably connected to the central panel along the panel overlaps; (c) one or more detachable connector means, by means of which the side panels are detachably connected to the central panel; and (d) one or more attachment means, by means of which the side panels are secured to the interior of the trash receptacle, such that, when the detachable connector means are removed, the two side panels become two retaining tracks behind which the central panel can slide up and down along the interior of the trash receptacle, and such that, when a liner bag is inserted into the interior of the trash receptacle, the composite vacuum release vent maintains an open airway between the liner bag and the interior of the receptacle, so as to prevent the creation of a partial vacuum as the liner bag expands upon filling.
 7. The composite vacuum release vent according to claim 6, wherein the side panels have a reverse surface upon which the attachment means are located.
 8. The composite vacuum release vent according to claim 7, wherein the detachable connector means enables the side panels to pivot with respect to the central panel through a range of oblique angles so as to cause the attachment means to conformably engage the interior of the trash receptacle.
 9. The composite vacuum release vent according to claim 8, wherein the central panel has one or more apertures that enable air to flow through the central panel.
 10. The composite vacuum release vent according to claim 9, wherein the central panel has a bottom lateral side that is contoured or notched to provide an opening for air to flow beneath the liner bag. 